Pillow Talk
by PrincessBellePrinceAdam
Summary: xRPMx Dillon surprises Summer during a discussion about the day's events. Post "Ghosts"; mild spoilers.


**Pillow Talk**

He had been watching her all night. She could feel his gaze on her as they sat around the base and were filled in on Gem and Gemma. "Come over here and talk to me already," the yellow ranger silently willed her black counterpart.

Every time Summer looked over at him, however, he would look away quickly. Then she would shake her head and go back to listening to Flynn and Scott talk cars or laugh silently as Ziggy unsuccessfully tried to persuade Dr. K to give him a hug.

As soon as Dillon knew her attention was no longer on him, Summer would feel his brown gaze settle on her once more. It was all part of the weird game the wolf ranger seemed intent on playing with her.

Summer was relieved when it was late enough to be acceptable for bedtime. She stood up, stretched her arms over her head and gave a huge fake yawn. "Well, goodnight everybody. I'm just so tired I can't keep my eyes open anymore." She was aware of everyone's eyes on her as she made her way upstairs.

When she got to her room, she didn't get ready for bed immediately. Summer suspected that whatever Dillon wanted to tell her, he wanted to do it in private and that he would be coming to see her shortly. So she took her hair out of its ponytail and brushed it out, letting it fall loose around her face. Then she laid down on her bed, picking up the book she'd been reading from her nightstand as she got comfortable.

Summer had been waiting for Dillon to come up and talk to her for almost twenty minutes and he still hadn't shown up. The yellow ranger felt a little disappointed as she sat up. She wondered why he was taking so long.

Maybe he was trying to make sure it wasn't too soon after she'd left to follow her. She relaxed a little at thought.

Summer continued to wait patiently for the wolf ranger to show up. Something else occurred to her as she brushed her fingers through her soft golden locks. Maybe he hadn't been staring at her at all and she was just crazy. God, Dillon really confused her.

The yellow ranger pushed that thought from her mind just as there was a quiet knock on her bedroom door. "Summer? Are you still awake?"

"You can come in," Summer called, willing herself to calm down. Now that Dillon had finally shown up, she couldn't wait to hear what he had to say. Summer put on a welcoming smile as she heard the doorknob turn. Dillon poked his head in, and when he saw that she was fully dressed and sitting up, he came inside.

He didn't come in very far, just enough so that he could close the door again. "I thought you were going to bed," Dillon said, that little smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.

She could play his game. "I thought you would have been here sooner," Summer countered with a smile of her own. "Now will you please sit down and tell me whatever it is that you want to tell me?" Summer moved to the edge of the bed, allowing her legs to dangle just above the floor. She patted the yellow comforter and Dillon came to sit next to her.

To Summer's surprise, the first thing Dillon did was reach for her hand. He covered it with his own, and when she looked at him with surprise and curiosity in her eyes, he smiled. It was small and hesitant, but it was a smile. He was serious about whatever he wanted to tell her.

"Go on," Summer encouraged him. "You can always tell me anything, Dillon. I'm here for you."

The black wolf ranger gave a nod of his head, and he squeezed the smaller hand he was holding. "I'm not good at this, but I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry, Summer."

Summer frowned, scrutinizing her friend with slightly narrowed ocean blue eyes. He had nothing to apologize to her for. There was no way he was at fault for anything that had happened. She told him as much. "Dillon, it wasn't your fault. How could you possibly have known?"

She inched closer to him, resting the hand he hadn't already claimed on his arm.

Dillon shook his head. "We all almost died. I should never have let the rest of you come along. It was just a wild goose chase…and we would have been toast if the twins hadn't shown up." The black ranger turned his head so that he no longer met Summer's gaze, but she could still see that Dillon was ashamed.

"No."

Stubborn until the very end, Dillon had to speak again. "Yes, Summer, it was. What if you had gotten hurt?" His voice trailed off, but Summer's focus never wandered from him. Finally he spoke again. "I'm going to sound like an idiot," he warned her, "But I don't think I could live with myself if something happened to you because of me."

He finally looked at her again, and there seemed to be pain in his eyes at the mere prospect of her getting injured. Summer tugged her hand away from Dillon's grasp and wound her arms around him. She knew he was taking a risk by being so open with her; he didn't like to be vulnerable. "I know the risks, Dillon, and I'm OK with them." She was surprised but pleased when she felt Dillon put his arms around her. She smiled slightly.

They stayed like that for awhile until Dillon seemed to be comforted. Then the wolf ranger released her and she did the same. Dillon looked down at her, very serious now. "For the record, Summer, I am _not_ OK with the risks. Not when they apply to you, anyway." He could see Summer preparing an argument, so he quickly spoke again before she could. "I'm going to beat myself up just a little more before I let you go to sleep, if that's OK."

Summer could see that arguing with him was going to be pointless. If he wanted to take the blame for what had unfortunately been a colossal waste of time, there was nothing she could say to make him change his mind. So she smiled again, bobbing her golden head in agreement.

"We got really lucky. It could have been worse."

"It could have," Summer agreed in a soft voice. "And we usually do get pretty lucky. I try not to question it." The yellow ranger felt kind of relieved when this comment caused Dillon to give the trademark she liked so much.

And still there were more things that needed to be said. Heavier things, more serious than her little joke. She took a deep breath and snuggled up to him again. "Dillon," Summer said quietly, "I'm sorry that we didn't find the answers. I'm sorry you had false hopes and that none of them worked out the way we wanted them to."

"That's definitely not your fault Summer," the black ranger said with a sharp edge to his tone. "We always knew the search was going to be hard." He gave that little smirk again before adding, "You're not going to give up till I know everything. I'm not worried."

The bear ranger grinned as she separated herself from her black counterpart. "You're right. I'm not going to just let it go. I promise you Dillon, we'll figure it out. Together. I don't care what it takes." There was nothing but sincerity in her voice.

Dillon had one more little surprise up his sleeve. He very gently cupped Summer's chin in his hand, angling her head towards him. Then he leaned down and placed a light kiss on her lips.

It was over as soon as it started. Summer stared at him, shocked that he had displayed such affection, but kind of pleased. "Dillon?"

He continued to confuse her by smirking again. "Night, Summer. And…thanks."

She watched as he went, completely in a daze. Then, when she felt she could move again, she smiled and crossed the room to her dresser, pulling out a white tank top and yellow pajama pants. She got ready for bed, turned off the lights and then got into bed. "Dillon kissed me," she whispered to herself, and a little thrill went through her.

It had been a strange, difficult day, Summer reflected. There was obviously still a lot of work to be done to solve the mystery of Dillon's past.

But if that was the way Dillon was going to act…she'd work hard.


End file.
